New Beginnings
by Lyeonenth
Summary: This story picks up right where Into the Still Blue left off. I decided to add on to what could possibly happen after the last book, since I felt the ending was kind of incomplete. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back! No, I did not go away. In fact, I have been reading all of the reviews and I thank all of you so much. You give me the motivation and confidence to keep me writing when I'm convinced I suck. Now, let's get past the mushy stuff.**

 **This is, unfortunately, not another chapter of this story. Instead, I have re-written what I've already published. Don't worry, I didn't get rid of anything, only made it better.**

 **I had a few people say that I should make more chapters. I think that's a great idea, but here's the issue: I have no ideas. So if you have an idea of what should happen next, message me or something (I still don't really know how this site works yet) and I might write about it! Don't worry, I will give you credit for the idea. Once again, thanks for being such amazing readers!**

* * *

Last Into the Still Blue Paragraphs:  
 _She and Roar talked nonsense as they walked the trail, their conversation easy and light as always. As they approached the settlement, Aria heard the pound of hammers and voices calling back and forth. Though she'd grown accustomed to the din over the past weeks, it always filled her with hope. It meant homes being built._

 _Part of her work on the council was to develop long-term plans for the city of Cinder. Plans for paved roads, a hospital, a gathering hall. Those would all come eventually. For now, they needed shelter. A comfortable place to lay their heads at night._

 _"I don't see him," Roar said, eyes scanning as they arrived._

 _"I don't either." Around them was a symphony of people digging, lifting, erecting walls and roofs, while Flea trotted around like he was supervising. "He took Talon exploring after our swim this morning. I'm sure they'll be back soon." It was another part of Perry's day-time with Talon, hunting, hiking. Whatever they decided._

 _Aria sat on a half-wall, built with nails poured from the new forge, and with lumber cut from higher elevation and floated downriver. Eventually, the wall would rise to become one side of a house._

 _This particular house would have a loft with a minor flaw. A crack in the roof that showed just a sliver of the blue sky above. Aria had made plans in secret with Marron. It was going to be a surprise._

 _Roar sat beside her. "So you want to just wait for them here?"_

 _"Sure." She bumped his shoulder with her own and smiled. "It's a good place to wait. This is home."_

* * *

She and Roar sat for a little while more, watching the work happening around them. Aria was tempted to help, but her muscles were still sore from the morning's swim lesson. Perry had tried teaching her different strokes today, but the entire time she was too distracted by him _._ She was admiring the strong outlines of his bare chest and his muscular arms as they swooped through the air and into the water. Aria noticed a surprising difference in him when he was where he belonged, with the waves crashing against him and his blonde hair slicked back and dripping with the salty water of the ocean.

And she liked it. A lot.

She wasn't sure how much more time she had spent longing for Perry before he actually appeared. He sat himself in front of her with his legs crossed and leaned his arms on her bent knees without a single word. They stayed that way for a bit, looking into each other's eyes. Perry's slight smirk and the glint in his vivid green irises gave Aria the impression that they were thinking the same thing.

Her gaze traveled lower to his mouth. She was surprised by the strength of their pull and how her heartbeat instantly shot up. Pictures rushed to her mind of him this morning: topless, pushing himself through the water with experienced strokes, holding her arms and moving them the correct way, letting out a beautiful chorus of laughter and smiling that smile she just couldn't stand when she was splashed by a gush of salty ocean water and complained about its taste.

Roar said something to them and walked away with Talon, pulling her slightly back to the present. But his words went in one ear and out the other as soon as her gaze moved back up to Perry's.

His eyes were intense as they reached deep into hers. Passion and desire burned his night-seeing gaze, but it was stronger then usual. He wasn't just wanting a kiss or admiring her; he was wanting her. The air around them had seemed to shift, and suddenly Aria understood. Perry had scented her. Since the moment he sat himself across from her, he could feel what she was feeling. While Aria was remembering moments from this morning and was wanting him more and more, his need was growing, too.

What Aria once thought of as an invasion of her mind's privacy was now something she was beyond grateful for.

The few inches of empty space between them suddenly seemed like miles. Aria couldn't stand being even a few feet away from Perry for too long, and now the two hours Perry went out exploring with Talon seemed like days and weeks and months.

So she ran to him.

Aria claimed Perry's mouth. Her hands wove their way through the thick pale ropes of his hair and pulled him even closer to her. He grunted in desire and cupped her face with his rough, callused hands. Aria's legs, still bent, were crushed between their needing bodies as they clung to each other.

Over the sound of their rapid breathing, Aria heard a catcall. She pulled back and was suddenly very aware of the many faces turned their way and the population of the area around them.

"Ignore them," Perry muttered against her lips. His voice was husky and flooding with desire. Aria struggled against the longing she felt to hearken to his suggestion. Luckily, Perry sighed warm air onto Aria's face and reluctantly stood, offering her a hand. The coolness that quickly covered her body without Perry's touch had her grabbing onto it with incredible speed. They barely took time to steady themselves before they hurried off into the privacy of the woods.

* * *

It was cooler under the huge oaks. Their large branches were weighted with bright summer leaves that fluttered against each other, filling the surrounding area with a unique song of its own. Aria's keen ears made the sound even more detailed and beautiful.

But Aria couldn't fully appreciate nature's music while her mind was going over the next hour or so's possibilities.

Thinking about it only made her desire strengthen. As soon as her well-trained ears told her they were far enough away, her arms were locked behind Perry's neck and her mouth had begun where it left of. After a few seconds of frozen surprise Perry responded, holding her hips in his large hands and deepening the kiss. Aria molded her body against his, still surprised at how well they fit together. She enjoyed the warmth and firmness of his built chest and stomach against hers. Her hands loosened from around his neck as his lips tenderly made their way to her cheek, her jaw, and finally to her (in more than one way) sensitive ears.

Despite the fact that they were pressed into each other, Aria still wanted more. She wanted to feel his warm, rough skin against hers. She wanted them to be completely connected without any barriers; which meant the clothes had to go.

Her hands made their way to the hem of his shirt and began lifting it. They roamed around his abs and rested over his pounding heartbeat. Perry stepped back to lift the annoying fabric from his body. But just after he pulled it over his head, he froze.

"Perry, what's wrong?" Aria asked. The former Tides Blood Lord was looking at her with an expression she couldn't read, but it definitely wasn't happy. He seemed almost wary, and Aria could tell that he was fighting an internal battle in the way his eyebrows scrunched up. She was about to prompt him again before he pulled his shirt back over his head and let out a frustrated sigh, sinking down onto the forest floor. He leaned against an oak trunk and hung his head, hiding his face behind a blonde curtain of hair. Then he mumbled something that Aria couldn't make out.

"What did you say?"

"I said that there was no point in running out here tonight." Perry raised his head but still refused to look at Aria. He looked both upset and frustrated, but not angry.

"Why not?" she asked, coming to sit down beside him. He gathered her up in his arms and kissed the top of her head, ridding Aria of the voices in her head that told her he didn't want to do this with her. She assumed now that he wanted to, but something was holding him back. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Well, kind of. But not really."

Aria lifted her head to look at Perry and was surprised to see the redness covering his face. He was nervous! She only realized she was smiling when Perry finally met her gaze.

"Why do you have to be so beautiful when you smile? You're really not helping me. Do you know how hard it is to resist you?"

His words sent Aria's heartbeat skyrocketing again. "First of all, telling me that I'm beautiful isn't going to make me want to help you in rejecting me." Perry flinched at the word "rejecting," making her want to instantly take her words back. It was already hard for him, obviously, and he didn't want to resist her, so why did she have to make it worse? She then realized that her next "It's a lot easier just to not resist me," comment would probably have not been very wise, either. There most likely was a major reason why this wasn't going to happen, or else Perry wouldn't have tried so hard to stop it. She tried thinking of a way to fill the silence while Perry waited for a "second of all," but he interrupted her before she could say anything.

"You have the scent." His sudden outburst caused Aria to jump. "Sorry," he mumbled, holding her tighter but going back to avoiding her gaze.

"What scent?" Aria asked, refusing to look away.

"Do you remember that night in the treehouse?" he asked after a long pause.

"Of course I do. I'll never forget that night."

"Well, do you remember asking me about..." he trailed off and looked up, apparently fascinated in the trees above them. "-about the possibility of you getting pregnant?"

"Yeah, you-" That's when Aria finally figured it out. Perry, being a Scire, could use his nose for a fascinating amount of things; one of them was being able to smell if a woman was ovulating. He could tell that Aria wasn't on that night in the treehouse, so there wasn't a chance of her getting pregnant. But tonight, she _had_ the scent. She _could_ get pregnant.

"Yeah," Perry muttered. "It's pretty strong today, which means that you have an even higher chance. I could smell it earlier. I shouldn't have started this only to push you away. I'm sorry."

But Aria was staring aimlessly into the woods, not hearing a word of what he was saying, when the word accidentally erupted from her mouth. "So?"

Both of them stiffened in surprise. Aria was too embarrassed to look at Perry, but she could imagine his wide-eyed stare. Why had she said that? She had just suggested that they _have a baby._ Her cheeks reddened and she wanted nothing more than to be somewhere else.

"Hey, Aria, look at me," Perry said after a few moments. His voice was low and kind as he gently lifted her chin to meet his gaze. He tucked the hair that was purposefully blocking her face behind her ear and gave her a warm smile. "Why are you hiding?"

"Because I'm an idiot," Aria said, her eyes roaming everywhere but Perry. Her next words came out in a rush. "We can't have a baby. We just got here, and we don't even have a house! Not only that, but we have different Markings. There's so much wrong with it, it just can't happen." She squirmed her way from Perry's hold on her chin and fell against his chest. Tears were gathering in her eyes. She fought them as hard as she could. Why was she crying? Perry stroked her hair, helping to soothe her racing heartbeat. She waited for him to agree with her.

"Yes it can."

Aria was sitting upright on his torso and staring at him an instant. Had he really just said that? Why didn't he agree with her? He didn't think she had lost her mind? Maybe he had lost his mind.

"I am in love with you, Aria, and I am not going to fall in love anybody else any time soon," Perry said, smiling passionately as he cupped her face. "We will be spending our entire _lives_ together. There is not a day I won't want you by my side. So why not add to the love? Why not become closer as we take care of an adorable little child?"

Aria's heart was beating and she was leaning closer to Perry. His words were so tempting, so loving. She wanted to give in and kiss him and tell him how wonderful that all sounded to her. But her mind was still thinking rationally.

"Perry, there's so much going on-"

"I don't care." The desire in his voice sent shivers through Aria's spine. His hands made their way down to her hips as he continued. "I don't care about a silly tribe legend. I don't care about our lack of a home. We'll raise our child in between a pair of walls if we have to, and I'll probably be too happy to even notice.

"Think about it. We'll see our child take their first steps and say their first word. You'll sing to him or her every night and I'll watch, falling in love with you even more. We'll play dollies and tag and watch them grow up. He or she will be so beautiful, with your gorgeous gray eyes, or your silky black hair, or-"

Aria cut Perry off with an urgent kiss. She was imagining a little child with Perry's perfectly imperfect nose and his lopsided smile, clinging to her legs and giggling up at her. She saw him or her chasing after Talon or Flea and learning the alphabet. It was such a beautiful thought that there was nothing Aria wanted more than to have a child with the man she would always love.

Her kiss was fierce and demanding. She wanted to show him just how much she wanted this through her touch. Everything she felt at that moment needed to be told, and words weren't good enough to describe her emotions.

Perry let out a startled breath before tightening his grip on her hips. Aria molded her body into his, very aware of the fact that she was sitting on his lap with her legs resting on either side of him. She wound her fingers through his hair and tugged lightly as she claimed his mouth. He groaned, releasing his grip and letting his hands roam her body. Trails of heat followed his fingers as he raked them over the bare skin of her back. She gasped against his mouth and began desperately tugging at his shirt.

He pulled back from the kiss with a grunt and impatiently yanked his shirt over his head. Aria was breathing heavily as her eyes scanned over his muscular body and she was hit with the realization of what was going on. Her eyes locked onto Perry's, which were heavy with hunger and passion. Before she knew it she was copying him. The forest breeze tickled her bare chest and stomach and her top was crumpled on the ground. She continued to stare at Perry even as his gaze took in her half-naked form. Then, in one swift movement, Perry had pinned Aria down onto a layering of leaves and was leaving sweet little kisses down her neck. Aria's fingernails dug into his broad shoulders and her legs clasped around his back, both of them working together to pull his body closer to hers. She pressed her heaving chest against his just as he pulled away.

Gone was the hunger in Perry's eyes, as if it had never existed, and replacing it was concern as he looked down at Aria. Her breathing was so loud that she barely heard what he said.

"Are you sure about this? I told you, there's a very large chance that you could get pregnant."

It was unthinkably amazing to Aria that this deep into what they were doing, Perry was still concerned about her more than anything. What was even more unimaginable was that he thought she may not be sure about what was happening.

"You're such an idiot," Aria murmured breathlessly, suddenly overcome with the desire to prove to Perry just how sure she was.


	2. Chapter 2

**PEREGRINE**

"Perry, is that a snake?"

Peregrine tensed and looked to where Talon was pointing. An inch wide brown shape curled out from under a bush, seemingly headed straight towards Talon. But Perry didn't need to look closely to see that the "snake" wasn't moving.

"Talon, I think you need a lesson on what snakes look like," Perry said, reaching down towards the object.

"Perry, what are you..." Talon trailed off as he realized his mistake.

"Honestly, how long have you been living in the woods?" Perry asked jokingly as he held up the curved tree branch that Talon had been fretting over just a few moments ago.

Talon stared red-faced at the object before pushing a fake laugh out of him. "You fell for it!" He pranced around Perry but refused to make eye contact.

"I did," Perry said, playing along. He raised his hands in a surrender. He'd save his nephew from the embarrassment today.

He probably would have picked on Talon more, but his mind was off today. The last time he had seen Aria was seven days ago, and that was that beautiful night alone in the woods. The weather was growing too cold for swimming and building the city of Cinder was a constant separator. Perry was beginning to feel as if he were going to lose his mind. Seven days without those big gray eyes and raven-black hair was too long for his comfort. In fact even one day was a struggle.

But he couldn't be selfish when there was an entire city to be built and thousands of citizens to be fed. Perry was gifted with the luxury of being able to hunt with Talon on a daily basis, and he was extremely grateful for that. No Talon _and_ no Aria would have been unbearable.

Perry returned to his home with Talon, both of them carrying rabbits and squirrels. As soon as he stepped out of the trees his eyes went immediately towards the foundation of his home, hoping to see a glimpse of his beautiful Aria. Sure enough, there stood a pale girl with unmistakable flowing black hair.

The only thing Perry cared about at that moment was the beautiful creature his gaze was locked on, the girl he could not live without and had to suffer seven days without seeing once. His bow, quiver, and pile of rodents fell into the dirt as he began sprinting towards Aria. He called her name loudly, not caring that he had what was most likely an idiotic grin plastered on his face. Aria's gentle gray eyes lit with excitement at the sight of him. She broke into a huge smile and opened her arms wide as Perry strode up. He locked his arms around her thin waist and squeezed her tight, lifting her and spinning her around. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in the scent of violets as if it were the oxygen he couldn't live without.

But one whiff had Perry stopping suddenly and setting her down. He pulled back his head and looked at her, wide-eyed.

"Perry, what is it?" Aria asked fearfully, placing a soft hand on the side of his face. He made no response. He couldn't make a response. His thoughts were too busy.

There was something unmistakably different in Aria's scent. It was sweeter, like honey. He leaned in and sniffed her neck again.

Suddenly his eyes lit up in excitement and disbelief and he grinned like a fool.

"Aria!" he exclaimed joyfully. He again wrapped her in a tight embrace and spun her around, somehow happier than he was before. Then he set her back down and kissed her passionately, still smiling against her mouth. When he pulled back he could barely refrain from laughing aloud with joy.

"Perry what is it?" Aria asked. She was also smiling because of him, but she was obviously perplexed.

"Aria, it's your scent," Perry said, struggling to keep from holding her again and never letting go. "You're pregnant."

This time he actually did laugh. Aria's gray eyes grew twice their size in shock. Then she grinned hugely and began laughing along with him.

"I'm pregnant!" she exclaimed, as if it were the punchline to some hilarious joke. "I'm pregnant!" Then she jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She clung on to him tightly and he did the same. They laughed and cried together, overcome with joy.

"Oh my goodness," she said. She repeated it a few times, as if what she was told was too good to be true. Then she pulled back her head, resting it against Perry's and messily weaving her fingers through his hair. Her face was a mess of tears and her grin was beautiful. She pushed his hair from his face and kissed him passionately.

"I love you," she said between kisses. She was breathless. As they loved each other she repeated it over and over. Perry was too shocked and joyful to speak.

* * *

"No. No way."

A large group of people sat around the center of the large clearing, eating their meals. Since Aria and Perry found out that they were expecting a child, they could not be more than three inches apart at any time. Their grins had not shrunken and their joy had not lessened.

"Mhm," Aria said. She bounced with excitement, her smile stretching across her entire face. Perry watched Roar with the same grin as his best friend received the news. Roar's expression was at first disbelieving and filled with utter shock. Perry had held Aria even tighter as his excitement grew. Then the information seemed to sink in and Roar rose to his feet, mirroring their expressions.

"This is amazing!" he yelled. His voice boomed through the night. He took two long strikes toward Perry and trapped him within his muscular arms. Both of them laughed heartily. Then Aria stood and Roar embraced her roughly as well, looking as if he were going to crush her. Then he let her down and fell back into his seat heavily, shaking his head in amazement while gazing at the two. The smiles spread around the entire group as people shouted, hugged, laughed and even cried. Perry couldn't help but noticing Soren smiling lovingly at Brooke. They met each others gazes and their expressions became serious and deep. Feeling as if he were intruding, Perry looked away.

Then Loren walked up to Aria. They looked at each other without speaking. Loren's face was filled with emotion, with the strongest one being happiness. Then he and Aria embraced tightly. Perry noticed tears in Loren's eyes as he stroked his daughter's hair.

Then he stepped back and looked at Perry skeptically. Perry suddenly felt nervous. He waited anxiously for Loren to say some biting comment when the man's expression softened and he hugged Perry. Perry froze in surprise, but then stiffly returned the embrace.

Loren pulled back and looked at Perry happily.

"Congratulations." Then he sent one more smile to Aria and took his seat again.

Long after the meals were finished, the group sat and spoke. The happiness of the announcement remained bright green at the edge of Perry's vision. He breathed it in and his spirits lifted even higher. Multiple times throughout the night, people would look over at Perry and Aria with admiration; especially Roar, who now was also unable to keep a smile from his face.

Aria had rested her head on Perry's shoulder, and as the moon continued to rise her weight grew heavier and heavier. By the time the moon was straight above the group, she seemed unable to hold herself up anymore. Perry felt himself growing tired.

"Hey," he murmured, leaning his mouth close to Aria's ear. She exhaled heavily through her nose and looked up at Perry. An exhausted smile tugged at her lips as she gazed at him with heavy-lidded eyes. Perry gathered her up in his arms and held her against his chest. He closed his eyes and rested his head on hers, wishing he could stay in that position forever.

"Oh wait!" Aria suddenly exclaimed, startling Perry. She leaned her head back to look at him with giddy excitement. Her eyes were wide and excited, like a child's when playing with new toys. The fire flickered orange lights across her smooth face, illuminating her thick, long eyelashes. Suddenly caught up with her beauty, Perry leaned in to kiss her.

"No no no, not yet," Aria said, leaning back and gently pushing his face away. Perry looked down at her with a seductive smile and raised his eyebrows.

"You sure?" he asked. He cupped her face and rubbed his thumb over her cheek slowly. She closed her eyes and nuzzled into his hand, relaxing. He moved his hand to beneath her chin and slightly raised it. She opened her eyes and gazed at him with warmth and desire.

"No! Stop it!" she scolded, snapping out of her daze. She pulled back and playfully swatted Perry's hand away. "Save it for later. I have something to show you."

Perry couldn't contain his smile. Aria escaped from his embrace and stood, pulling Perry along with her.

"Goodnight!" people said around the fire. Aria grabbed Perry's hand and waved with her free one before pulling him away.

"Your house! It's finished!" Aria explained once they were out of earshot. "I mean, well, our house. Marron and I have been working on it all week to get it done. We even added some special features." Perry sensed Aria's excitement as well as her embarrassment in her use of the term "your house." Perry just chuckled and let Aria pull him closer to the approaching shadow of a building.

They stopped at the doorstep. The wooden house was medium in size and made of rough wood. Clean-cut scratches dug into the top of the doorframe.

"Some of us on the council decided that we should put the residents of the homes' names on the doorframe," Aria explained. She stood up on her tiptoes and pointed to the first set of scratches.

"This says 'Aria,'" she said. Perry stared at the markings, trying but failing to understand what they meant or how they worked. Then she pointed to the second group.

"This is 'Peregrine.'" Perry looked at his own name. He had seen it written before, but never in Aria's handwriting. Before it hadn't meant anything, but now gazing upon it brought a rush of emotions. His name was hers. She had scratched these familiar markings into the wood that belonged to her, but also to him as well. Everything they had now belonged to both of them. Those beautiful markings, the ones that perfectly sat next to each other as Perry and Aria always would, could be permanently set into everything that was theirs. Because that itself, Perry and Aria, was one being, one love, one perfection that couldn't be separated. Perry wasn't Perry without his Aria. Without her, he would only be half himself. He would only half own of his things. And he never wanted that to happen.

"There's mo-"

Aria was interrupted as Perry brought his lips to hers. He held onto her passionately, thinking of how grateful he was to be able to hold something so beautiful as she was. He was gifted, and not because of his Markings. Nobody could ever be as lucky as he was.

Aria pulled back. Both of them breathed heavily. Aria leaned her forehead against Perry's chest, lightly tracing a finger over his stomach as she caught her breath. Perry shivered at her touch. Then Aria looked up humorously.

"What is with you today?" she asked. Perry saw that she was trying to light-heartedly joke, but her temper told him that she felt just as much desire for him and he felt for her. That only fueled him up more, but he refrained from kissing her again. Instead he rested his head against hers and caressed her soft cheek. He sighed, and when he spoke his voice was deeper than usual.

"You're driving me nuts," he murmured. Aria shivered and her desire grew. Perry, aggravated, pulled quickly away and grunted.

"I can't focus on anything when you feel like that. Show me the house before I take you into the woods again."

Aria smiled up at him, seemingly amused. She put her hands on her hips and said,

"You know you're not allowed to do that for nine months, right?"

"Man, this pregnancy thing isn't really sounding that great anymore," he responded with a grin. Aria nudged him playfully and shook her head.

"Such a guy." Then, before Perry could defend himself, Aria grabbed the doorknob and opened the door to their new home.

There was no furniture, but Perry was already in love with it. To the left was a kitchen with an open space for a decent-sized table. To the right was a small living area with large windows. But Perry couldn't pay much attention to the details, because what really caught his eye was loft in the back corner.

A grin quickly spread across Perry's face. He wanted to kiss Aria a million times over. Child-like, he took long strides across the room to the ladder and climbed it quickly.

It was perfect. Contrary to what Perry expected, the loft was small and plain. There was no large bed with fluffy pillows and thick comforters. Instead there was just room enough to fit a regular double mattress, with a low enough ceiling that even Talon couldn't stand without bumping his head.

The ceiling.

Of course, when Perry looked up, he saw a minor mistake in the structure. Right above the pillows was a small crack in the ceiling, opening up the star-filled night sky for Perry to see when he laid his head at night. Well, him and Aria.

But that wasn't it. In one of the walls sat a small window, which held small sculptures along its sill. In the center was a sloppy chunk of wood made by none other than Perry himself, and surrounding it were clean falcon carvings.

Perry had been too busy gazing at his beautiful loft to notice that Aria had climbed up the ladder and knelt beside him. He turned and gently held her face, bringing his lips softly to hers. They shared a tender kiss before Perry pulled back with a smile.

"Thank you," he said.

He laid back on his pillow, looking up through the crack at the starry sky empty of Aether. Aria settled down beside him, resting her head on his chest. He rested his own head against hers, breathing in her scent of violets.

"The room below us was meant for Talon when he grows older and doesn't want to cuddle with his uncle anymore," Aria said after a few moments. "But I guess it can be our baby's room now."

Perry grinned at the words.

"Our baby," he repeated. It sounded perfect, right. He said it again. "We're going to have a baby."

Perry felt tears welling in his eyes. He and Aria were going to have a child together.

He felt Aria's smile against his chest. Then, surprising himself, he brought a hand down to the bottom of her shirt and rested it on her bare stomach. He felt the smooth, flat skin of her belly and gently caressed it. His child was resting beneath that beautiful pale skin. A baby, created by them, for them, and only them, was growing right there. Tears rose in his eyes once again and he kissed the top of Aria's head.

"You're a mother now," he murmured. It really hit him then; the pictures of her teaching their kid how to read, playing peek-a-boo, and most of all, loving the child and snuggling him or her while they fussed and tried squirming away.

"You're a father now," she responded. That hit him even harder. He was a father. He had never thought about what it would be like to be a father. He had to be mature and responsible. He would love his child just as much as Aria did and watch him or her grow up and be proud. He would teach him or her to hunt and play tag and hide-and-seek. But the most important thing was that he wouldn't be like his own father.

Then the picture of him and Aria, growing old, holding hands while watching their child grow up, gazing upon that child with pride and love, filled Perry's mind and made him smile. He fell asleep with that happy thought still lingering in his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**ARIA**

Aria was awoken from a deep sleep by a wave of nausea. Knowing she was immediately in deep trouble, she stumbled down the loft ladder and hurried to the front door.

It was a week later. The moon shone in the sky more towards the west, which told Aria it was past the middle of the night. But she didn't have much time for stargazing, for the next moment she turned and vomited right outside her door.

When she was done she plopped down on the other side of the frame and wiped her mouth. At that moment Perry bursted from the front door and knelt beside her, his whole face radiating concern. But even behind the concern Aria could see his disgust at the scent, which was extremely amplified by his Scire nose.

Suddenly Aria felt incredibly weakened. Every muscle in her body, especially the ones in her eyelids, seemed to be weighted. She closed her eyes and slumped further against the outside wall of her home, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep right there.

"Aria?" She barely heard Perry's voice as his hand shook her shoulder. He sounded as if he were far away. Aria mumbled a response and slid further down the wall. "Aria!"

"Mmmmmm fnnnn..." she replied. Despite this, she was quickly scooped up in Perry's arms. She dragged her eyes open for a moment to see Perry looking around with wide, fearful green eyes.

"Molly!" he hollered frantically. Aria was jostled as he began running and repeatedly shouting for the former Tides healer.

"Nonononono," she murmured, slowly moving her head back and forth. "I'm..." But before she could finish her sentence, sleep finally pulled her in and she happily fell into the cozy blackness of nothing.

* * *

Aria opened her eyes to a blinding gold light. She squeezed her eyelids shut and blinked against the harsh sunlight. When her poor eyes finally adjusted, she opened them and made out the shapes of the objects in the large room.

Aria recognized the room as the hospital. She had been a main helper in the construction of it, although it was still far from finished. The structure was completed, but the windows were just holes in the walls and the door frames were empty, with the exception of the front door. The only furniture in the room were cabinets filled with supplies and rows of crummy cots, along with a cozy-looking rocker in the corner.

Then Aria realized that someone was seated in the rocker. She squinted against the brightness of the room and made out the shape of Molly. The old woman was sitting with her chair stilled, looking out the empty window frame as if lost in thought.

"Molly?" Aria rasped. Her mouth was bone-dry and her breath carried the bitter taste of vomit. She needed water.

Molly's attention snapped to Aria and a smile appeared on her gentle face, creating wrinkles along her cheeks. She walked over and knelt beside Aria, holding her hand.

"How are you?" she asked, lightly brushing the surface of Aria's hand with her old, gnarly thumb.

"Fine." Then Aria thought for a second and added, "Thirsty."

"I'll get you some water," Molly said. Her kind smile was not at all effected by Aria's horrid breath. She got up and came back a few seconds later with a small cup. Aria took it and gulped it down in a matter of seconds.

"Why am I here?" she asked, her voice clearer. Some of the stench had gone, but she could still taste it on her tongue.

"Your first pregnancy symptoms." Molly's smile grew wider as she explained. "You had nausea, followed by fatigue. It makes sense, since you found out about your pregnancy a week ago and conceived the child the week before that. Two weeks is the normal time for those symptoms to develop. I should also warn you that soon you'll begin urinating more often and you'll become bloated. Don't worry, it happens with everyone."

"Okay," Aria said, feeling even more worried now. "But why exactly am I here anyway?" If she were only nauseous and felt some fatigue, was it really necessary for her to be in the hospital?

"Last night Peregrine carried you here after you passed out. I told him that you'd be fine, nothing's wrong, but he wouldn't let me rest until I agreed to have you in here for the night. So stubborn."

Aria sighed. "Did he cause you too much trouble?"

"I'm used to him, but I don't know about the others who were trying to sleep last night. You would think the world were ending, the way he was yelling and running around everywhere."

"Where is he?" Aria asked with annoyance.

"Oh, I'll get him. He might finally relax once he see's you're awake."

Once Molly had exited the front doors, Aria grumbled angrily. It bothered her that Perry had to cause so much of an inconvenience because of one small incident. She was strong; she didn't need an entire city worrying about her because she was tired.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the hospital doors flung open and smacked against the inside walls. Aria flinched at the noise.

"I'm sorry," Perry's voice said in a rush. This only put Aria more on edge. She struggled to avoid clenching her jaw as he came up to her with large, panicked strides, leading a pack of people including Roar, Talon, Loren, and many more. Why didn't he just bring the entire city?

But then Perry knelt down beside her and stopped acting like an idiot. All of her aggravation disappeared as he smiled calmly, normally, as if he were just happy to see her, and brushed some of the messy black strands of hair from her face. He took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Aria smiled too and let herself relax.

"I'm okay," she said light-heartedly, closing her eyes with contentment.

"I know," he murmured back. Just those words filled Aria with love for him. He believed she was strong.

Their moment was interrupted as Roar loudly cleared his throat.

"Hey, Aria-hogger. I'm sure you're not the only one she wants to see," he barked. Both of them chuckled and Perry backed away, leaving room for Roar.

"Not much to say," he said casually, crossing his arms. "I mean, you're not dying or anything. And I knew you were fine the whole time. Perry's just a worrier."

Aria let herself smile and looked over to Perry, who didn't seem to appreciate the joke as much.

"Yes," she said, loud enough for the others to hear. "But he also knows that I can care for myself." Aria sent a pointed yet humorous look towards Perry.

The others laughed. Perry frowned.

"Of course I know that," Perry defended, sounding oddly pouty and childish. "I know how strong you are."

"Trying to get back on the good side, aren't you Perry?" Roar nagged, nudging his shoulder against Perry's. The Seer did not reciprocate. His bright green gaze burned angrily at Roar.

"Well, dang," Roar murmured to Aria, a cocky grin spreading across his face. Perry's anger seemed to have no affect on him. "I thought the one carrying the baby was supposed to have the mood swings."

Aria watched Perry's hands ball into fists at his sides. Before she could yell at him that Roar was just joking, he turned and shoved his way through the crowd of people. A second later, the doors of the hospital slammed closed. Aria jumped at the noise.

The next moment she stared in wonder at Roar. "What is wrong with him?" she asked. Roar's joking had never made Perry angry before, especially not angry enough to strike his best friend. Just a moment earlier Perry had been smiling at Aria, holding her hand, and the next his knuckles were turning white and his eyes were deadly enough to make even grown men shrink away.

"He didn't really get any sleep last night," Roar explained. "After he brought you here he couldn't stop moving. He paced everywhere. I think he even ran around in circles at one point. He was pretty messed up."

Aria sighed. This wasn't the Perry she was used to, and she didn't like the new one.

"I'll be fine," Roar said. "He's just really worried. I'll take him out hunting and try to calm him down a bit."

* * *

However, Aria only got worse after that. The time she didn't spend up in the loft, passed out against Perry's chest, was spent urinating and throwing up. That was all she did for weeks: she peed, she puked, and she slept. She felt useless, stuck up in the loft all day, unable to help with the building of houses or to attend Council meetings. And no matter how many times Perry told her she was strong, she was not. She was pathetic, sick, and weak.

And because Perry was rendered to Aria, he was miserable as well. He laid with her all day, because her sickness kept him from doing anything else. Although he did not sleep as much as she did, Aria could tell that he struggled to keep his eyes open, and even though he did not throw up, he would groan and curl into a ball around his stomach when she ran outside. Then, without an uncle to take him hunting, Talon had to go into the woods with Roar everyday, and Aria knew that Perry was struggling with not seeing his nephew as often.

She couldn't help feeling guilty. It was irrational, and she knew that; she had no control over her sickness. But she couldn't ignore the fact that she was the reason Perry was suffering. She never wanted to cause Perry pain. The only thing she wanted was to make sure Perry was happy, and because of her, he was not. These words repeated in her head, every time like a fresh slap in the face. She was the reason Perry was suffering.

Not to mention the unpredictable pattern of her hormones. One moment Aria was smiling, gazing dreamily around herself and murmuring inaudible nonsense about the greatness of the world, and the next she was sobbing into Perry's chest about. . . nothing.

"You're such an amazing hunter, Perry. You're so strong," she mumbled one night, her voice high and soft like a child's.

"Um, thanks?" Perry responded. For unknown reasons, his response immediately fueled Aria's rage. She sat up quickly at glared down at Perry, clenching her fists and barely restraining herself from striking him across the jaw.

"That's all you can say?" Aria yelled. Her voice bounced off the walls of the small loft, hurting her own ears, but she was too angry to care. "I gave you a compliment, and all you can say is 'Um, thanks'? You are ungrateful! So ungrateful! Why don't you tell me I'm beautiful? Why don't you compliment me back? Why do you just lay there acting all dumb? You're trying to pry more compliments out of me, aren't you? Such a proud jerk!"

The entire time, Perry had been staring at her in shock. He had shifted away from her, eyeing her fisted hand with panic. He had been trying to quiet her with gentle shushes, which Aria ignored, but when she said the word "jerk" he made the mistake of putting his hand around her arm in an attempt to constrain her.

Aria stared at his hand around her arm, her rage quietly but fiercely consuming her.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" Aria asked, her voice a hushed whisper but sharp as the knives she so often wielded. Her gaze was unmoving from Perry's hand. He quickly released her.

"Aria, please, I'm sorry. Calm down, it's-"

"Calm down?" she suddenly shrieked, standing on her knees. "Calm down? You want me to-"

She was interrupted by a sob as the next wave of hormones crashed into her, this one going by the name of Sadness. The horror of her rage, the amount of anger that filled her, had her instantly collapsing against Perry in a fit of sobs. How had she let this anger consume her? What happened to the love she felt for Perry? So many others went through these things on a regular basis, so many others. How could they stand it? How could the world be filled with such hate? Why couldn't those people just love each other? Why couldn't everybody just love each other? Why did anything bad have to happen in the world? So many people were sad. So many people! It was so horrible!

"Shh, Aria, it's okay. I forgive you," Perry was saying as he stroked her hair. He pulled her closer to him and repeated his words. Aria smiled against his chest, completely believing him. He forgave her. They would never be like those troubled couples. They were perfect.

And just like that, Aria was back to normal.

She quickly chuckled, getting rid of the rest of the sobs that were built up in her chest, and pulled away from Perry's embrace long enough to swat the tears away from her cheeks.

"How do you deal with me, Perry?" she said jokingly, lying back down. Perry was silent. When Aria looked up, she saw him staring at her with wide, perplexed eyes.

"I really don't know," Perry said the next moment, seemingly back to himself. He shook his head and smiled his lopsided grin.

"It'll be over soon, I promise," Aria said.

"I hope so."

They laughed together and fell asleep with smiles on their faces, as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Aria was slowly pulled into consciousness. Before she opened her eyes and the last bit of sleep drifted away, she left herself enjoy the beautiful chorus of the singing birds, the rustling of the leaves, and the voices of happy people in a happy city living happy lives. That was her favorite song, the one of happiness and color and that couldn't be sung.

Then a realization had Aria's eyes opening. She had slept an entire night without throwing up once. Every morning for the past few months, she had been awoken by a wave of nausea crashing into her like a stone wall, and had been yanked from unconsciousness at least once during the night hours. Today, she had neither of those happen. In fact, she was almost completely without the constant sickness that she had been carrying with her since that first night in the hospital.

She smiled to herself and looked down. Her belly now protruded far enough out to be noticeable. According to Molly, Aria's first trimester was nearing an end, apparently taking her nausea with it. Aria was also glad to find that she wasn't feeling as tired as she used to. Perry was able to help with building again, which greatly lifted his spirits. Aria's appetite had been growing, as well, meaning Perry needed to go out hunting more often. Aria hated relying on Perry to feed her or do anything for her, but she knew that once her fatigue and sickness completely left her, he wouldn't have to any longer.

"Good morning."

Perry's voice yanked Aria from her thoughts. He was looking down at her, his eyes hazy with sleep, his lips tugging up slightly at the corners.

"Did I wake you up?" Aria asked, unable to resist touching the side of his face.

"Not you, but your stomach," he said.

Aria hadn't noticed that her stomach was rumbling, but the moment Perry mentioned it she realized how empty she felt.

"Hey, at least you didn't throw up this morning," Perry said happily. Before she could respond, he took a callused finger and lightly traced above her brow. Aria looked at him in confusion as he rubbed his two fingers together.

"Your skin's oily," Perry said. "The light shining on it makes it look like you're glowing."

"Molly told me about this," Aria said, wiping her own finger across her cheek. Her face scrunched in disgust and annoyance at it's oiliness. "She called it 'Pregnancy Glow.'"

"Well I think it's beautiful," Perry said pointedly.

"Yeah, not me," Aria grumbled. "It feels like someone's rubbed a fish all over me. I can't get it off."

Perry chucked. "You're my true, slimy Night Crawler now."

"That's disgusting," Aria said, but she couldn't help from laughing. Perry joined in and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

* * *

"I want to get up."

The second trimester had officially begun. The nausea, along with the fatigue, was gone, and both Aria and Perry were more than happy to wave them goodbye. The energy that had left Aria on the first night of her sickness had returned, and she was ready to get up and do something. The only issue was Perry and his worrying.

"Are you sure?" he asked uneasily.

"Definitely," Aria said stubbornly. "I'm ready. I'm tired of being stuck up here in this loft."

"But-"

"Perry, it's not like I'm going to work on the building or anything like that. I just want to go and walk around. Even Molly has said that it's time."

She listened to his heartbeat against her ear while she waited for a reply. When one didn't come, she decided to press further.

"You know, Molly also said that it would be good for the baby. Don't you want what is best for our child?" she asked, looking up at him sweetly.

Perry sighed and began sitting up. "Fine."

He made his way down the ladder and waited at the bottom for Aria. She was surprised at how clumsy she was. Both her feet and hands felt fat and slippery. She began making her way down the ladder, trying to hide her lack of balance from Perry.

And then her foot slipped. Her leg banged against the rung, and her heartbeat instantly shot up as she fumbled to regain her steady hold on the ladder. She felt Perry's hands grasp tightly on her waist, grounding her and allowing her to reconnect with the ladder. Both of them breathed shakily.

"This was a bad idea," Perry said as Aria made her way down the last view rungs and stood beside him. He gathered her into his arms, holding her as if she just survived a life-threatening incident.

"No, it wasn't," Aria said. She pulled back and planted a quick kiss on her lover's lips. "See? I'm fine. Let's go." Before he could argue, she wove her fingers through his and led him outside.

"Hey, Perry has finally let Aria come outside!"

Aria smiled as Roar made his way over to the two of them. He bent down so his face was level with Aria's slightly rounded belly and smiled a goofy grin.

"How is my little guy?" Roar spoke to Aria's stomach with a voice that people tend to use when talking to babies.

"We don't know the gender yet," Aria informed him, as if she were a doctor talking to a patient.

"I know that. I just know that he's a boy," Roar said. Aria rolled her eyes.

"Aria!"

Everyone turned to see Talon sprinting towards them with arms outstretched. Aria leaned back, bracing herself for the rough impact. Just as Talon was nearing her, Perry swooped in and lifted him from under his arms.

"Whoa, there," Perry said, putting Talon back on his feet. "Don't knock her over."

Talon nodded in understanding and slowly, gently, wrapped his arms around Aria. His head rested awkwardly against her bump. Aria heart swelled with happiness at the love Talon was showing for her. He was practically Perry's son, which made him her son, too. Him accepting her this easily made Aria joyous beyond words.

The moment was ruined as Aria's stomach let out a fierce growl. Talon leaned back and looked up at Aria with wide, innocent eyes.

"Was that him?" he asked in amazement. Aria laughed.

"No, I'm just hungry." She looked over at Perry with sweet eyes. "Perry, can you get me some food?"

"Yes yes yes!" Talon shouted excitedly, leaving Aria to pull on Perry's arm. "Aria's all better now, so that means we can go hunting all day! Right, Perry?"

Perry opened his mouth to protest but Aria stopped him.

"Perry, go. You don't need to worry about me."

"Yeah, she's fine," Roar said, draping his arm heavily over her shoulders. "Go hunt with Talon. You deserve it, after dealing with her for so long."

Aria scoffed and stepped out from under Roar's arm, giving him a little shove. Perry looked at Aria with an undecided expression.

"Alright," Perry finally agreed. Talon bounced with excitement and followed Perry into the house to get his bow, talking excitedly about what had all happened while Perry had been "hibernating." Aria smiled and watched as they reemerged from the house and made their way to the covering of the trees.

"You're really growing," Roar said, turned Aria's attention back to him.

"Yeah, I'm gaining some weight," Aria said.

"No, not in that way. Well, maybe a bit. But I mean your belly," Roar bent over again and spoke in his baby voice. "My little guy's starting to grow in there, isn't he?"

Aria decided to ignore Roar's unbreakable belief that her child was a boy and looked down at her stomach.

"Yeah, I guess," she agreed. "It's starting to look more like there's a baby under this belly than just food."

Roar chuckled and began walking at a steady pace around the camp. Aria kept up beside him. Without her mind telling it to, her hand decided to rest on her stomach.

"Has he moved yet?" Roar asked.

"A little. I'll feel him move every once in awhile, but not very often."

"Have you thought about names at all?" Roar asked after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"We have some ideas, but we're not completely decided on them yet," Aria said. "If our child is a boy, we're thinking about naming him Regren, for Reef and Gren. If we have a girl, we thought about Livina." Aria paused and looked at Roar. He was looking at her with an expression she couldn't even begin to read. "For Olivia and Lumina."

Roar continued to look at her. He blinked back tears and smiled. "I think that's a great name."

* * *

Aria groaned.

"Aria?" Perry immediately sat up, accidentally tossing Talon off of the side of the mattress that was laid in the center of the living room floor. The larger Aria's belly grew, the more difficult the climb to the loft had become. Upon Perry's insisting, Aria finally agreed to move the mattress down to the main level and sleep on the floor. However, after experiencing terrible aches and soreness after two nights of the new sleeping arrangements, Aria had taken a new spot on the sofa. Taking her place next to Perry was Talon.

"I'm fine," Aria said. It was at that moment that another sharp pain stabbed into her stomach and, unable to keep it stifled, Aria let out a moan.

"No, you are not," Perry argued, scrambling off of the mattress and kneeling beside the couch. He worriedly placed a large hand over Aria's belly, which had grown to a surprising size.

"Perry, the baby's not due for a few months," Aria chuckled.

"I know that, but you're still in pain."

"It's fine." The sharp stabs of pain that often occurred in Aria's stomach were proclaimed normal by Molly, and Perry knew this. Yet still he continued to worry every time she did so much as flinch.

"Do you want to get up?" he asked, using a worried tone that Aria was beginning to hate. But as much as she hated to admit it, she did need Perry's help.

So Aria nodded and tossed the blanket from her body, wincing as she sat up and swung her legs over the couch. She looked down at her bare stomach, with was etched with stretch marks and sagging in places where it never had before. Aria's spirits dropped at the sight of it. What if her stomach never went back to normal? What if she could never again have smooth pale skin over a flat stomach? What if her body could never look beautiful again?

She looked up with a start as she felt Perry's hand once again rest on the lump of her belly. He must have noticed her disgust, whether by her scent or the expression on her face. He was smiling up at her, the same affection in his gaze that existed when her body was actually beautiful. He acted as if she had never changed, that he could care less about her disgusting belly. Aria wished she could do the same thing.

Perry's brow furrowed at Aria. He must have detected what she was feeling. His eyes were determined and serious as he took Aria's face in his hands and spoke.

"You are beautiful." He spoke each word slowly, emphasizing their importance. Then, catching Aria completely off guard, he kissed her fiercely.

Instead of kissing him back, Aria pushed him away. Couldn't he let her even stand up before having to practically eat her face? Every chance he had he took to make out with her, and it bothered Aria. Didn't he understand personal space? He was about as clingy as a toddler to its mother.

Perry's eyes swam with a plethora of emotions at the rejection, as if he didn't really know how to feel. At first it seemed like hurt, then maybe anger or annoyance, then finally exasperation as he decided to just let it go. However, when he spoke, Aria heard a mixture of all of these in his voice.

"Let's go," he snapped quietly, refusing to look at her as he stood and thrust his hand out for her to grab.

"Hey," Aria said quietly, grabbing his hand and tugging him down beside her on the couch. She gently cupped the side of his face and forced him to look at her. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just not in the mood for that right now. I still love you, though." Aria smiled at her last comment and placed a soft kiss on Perry's cheek. He nodded, smiled, and have her a soft, gentle, loving kiss on the forehead. Then he stood and held his hand out for her again.

Aria winced as she firmly gripped onto his hand and used it to slowly pull herself into a standing position. Pain shot down her spine in quick bursts. Her eyes squeezed shut and she ground her back teeth in an attempt to stifle a gasp.

"I hate that this causes you so much pain," Perry said once she had stood. He softly caressed up and down her back as, for a few moment, the world in front of Aria lurched and spun. Her temples pounded like the steady beating of a hammer. She closed her eyes against the spinning until finally the pain subsided and the floor remained below her.

"Well, I can't do anything about it," Aria sighed. She was just as ready as Perry was to have this baby out of her stomach. Her balance was completely out of whack with the growing of her belly, and with that came more difficulty in walking and tremendous pain that standing differently was causing to her spine. Even when she was sitting or she was distracted, the soreness was constantly there. Luckily, she had Perry to support her, both literally and figuratively.

The green-eyed Seer wrapped his arm supportively around her waist as they hobbled their way to the front door. Talon quickly bounded up to Perry, clutching his free hand with his own and making his way out of the door with his aunt and uncle. Aria smiled at her new family. She wouldn't have chosen anyone else to be with. With this happy thought, Aria gave Perry a quick peck on the cheek and together they crossed the threshold into the already bustling city of Cinder.

Before they could even step off of their small porch, they were bombarded with greetings.

"Good morning, Peregrine!" a former Tides' member would bellow.

"Good morning, Aria!" a friendly woman would sing.

"Good morning, Talon!" a bouncing child would squeak.

And then there would people all kinds of different people, people from the Tides and from the Horns and the domes, excited children and slouching elders, people Aria had never even seen the faces of before, who would call out either of the two names that had been made official by Roar's inability to keep quiet.

"Good morning, Livina!"

"Good morning, Regren!"

Aria should have known better than to trust Roar with the possible names of her and Perry's child. Livina and Regren were in no way final or absolute, they were mere suggestions, but Roar had to go and blab to the entire city about the names of his niece or nephew. And just like that, it was decided that either Livina or Regren would be the child's name.

Then, without Roar's influencing, a sort of vote started among the city; Was the child going to be a boy or a girl? Some people were taking the game so seriously that they were gambling money, clothes, even weapons off of the unborn child's gender. The baby had become one of the most important topics of discussion in the city, even among people who had never spoken to either of the parents in their lives.

"Good morning guys," Roar greeted with his usual smirk and swaggering walk. "And girls," he added, gesturing towards Aria and then her belly. Aria found it funny how, since Roar had heard of what the child was going to be named, he had switched from Team Regren to Team Livina. No longer did he call the unborn child "little guy," and used the pronoun "he" with complete confidence. Now the child was, "little girl" and "she". Aria never confronted him about it, but she couldn't help but smirk whenever he did it.

"Why is there so much working today?" she suddenly asked. Looking around her, she noticed that everywhere there were people running around, hammering here, drilling there, erecting walls and arranging floors.

"We're finishing up all of the housing so we can transition to the city buildings," Roar informed her.

"I can't believe you're only finishing that up now," Aria scoffed, suddenly immensely annoyed. "The hospital is just as important as the houses." She spoke as if she were a mother, scolding her five-year-old son for not eating breakfast because he wasn't hungry.

"Well we-"

"No, I don't want to hear your excuse." Aria crossed her arms over her belly and raised her chin, ending the conversation. She caught Roar looking at Perry from the corner of her eye, completely bewildered. Aria could practically read in Roar's eyes what he was thinking.

 _What the heck is up with her?_

"Hey, Aria, it's alright," Perry said nonchalantly, hugging her closer to him. "It's not like Roar has a decision on what we're building anyway."

Aria lowered her chin, but she kept her arms crossed. Roar was still looking at Perry with the same expression.

"Oh, don't worry Roar." Perry squeezed Aria closer to his side in a joking manner. But Aria didn't think it was very funny. "Aria's just had a bit more... _personality,_ lately. I think Molly called it her 'motherly instincts.'"

Aria snapped her annoyed look up to Perry, squirming out of his grasp.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," she scolded. "It's very rude."

"I know, I know," Perry brushed off, not taking her serious in the least bit. He leaned down to kiss her, but Aria dodged before he could reach her.

"Ouch," Roar winced sympathetically. "Right in the ego. Did Molly mention that, too? Rejection?"

"I think she said it was loss of sex drive," Perry responded nonchalantly, once again acting as if Aria wasn't even there.

"Peregrine!" Aria practically yelled, slapping him across the arm. He actually winced. "I'm pregnant, you pervert."

"Oooh, the full name," Roar said quietly, a smirk on his face.

"I'm only repeating what Molly said!" Perry defended, putting his hands in the air as a surrender. He and Roar chuckled, wide grins stretched across their faces. No matter how much Aria wanted to frown and keep her arms crossed, the sight of the two boys' goofy, lopsided grins had Aria's body betraying her. Her own smile spread across her face and she laughed. Then, feeling slightly evil, Aria flashed a flirtatious look up at Perry. She wouldn't let him win this one.

"You know, I wouldn't say that my sex drive is completely gone."

With those words Aria wove her fingers into Perry's hair and yanked his mouth down to hers. She kissed him roughly, not holding back in the least bit, and jumped up so her legs were wrapped around his waist and her body was pressed against his. She felt him stumble back a bit. The fact that she had the added weight of an entire child in her belly probably made her not the easiest to hold or the most fit to do this, but she didn't care. Perry's body was completely stiff under her touch, still frozen in shock. Then, before he could get his bearings or enjoy himself too much, Aria hopped down and untangled her fingers from his hair. She briskly walked to the door of her and Perry's house, opened it, and tossed another glance over her shoulder at Perry before she could disappear behind the wood.

For once, both Roar and Perry were stunned into silence. They both stood, unmoving, staring after Aria with wide eyes. The sight of Perry, however, was priceless. His face was flushed bright red and his chest was heaving. In his eyes swam with confusion, but most strongly, unsatisfied desire. Aria smirked. This was exactly what she had wanted.

She closed the door behind her, suddenly realizing that she was panting for air.


End file.
